Furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds in exhaust gas. The furnace device has a hollow body ( 10 ) with a gas inlet ( 13 ) and a gas outlet ( 11 ), a positioning device ( 20 ) mounted inside the body ( 10 ) and an arc generator ( 30 ) attached to the positioning device ( 20 ). The arc generator ( 30 ) has multiple cylindrical chambers ( 31 ) for accommodating the exhaust gas and multiple central rods ( 32 ) respectively penetrating through the multiple cylindrical chambers ( 31 ). In each chamber ( 31 ), an inner periphery of the chamber ( 31 ) serves as an electrode, and the central rod ( 32 ) serves as another electrode. When an effective potential difference is applied to the electrodes, arcs are generated between the inner periphery of the chamber ( 31 ) and the central rod ( 32 ) inside the chamber ( 31 ). Thereby, volatile organic compounds in the exhaust gas are burned and decomposed effectively and completely by the generated arcs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a furnace device for eliminatingvolatile organic compounds (VOCs), and more particular a furnace devicethat uses arcs to burn the volatile organic compounds in an exhaust air.

2. Description of Related Art

Exhaust gases from most factories contain volatile organic compoundssuch as hydrocarbon compounds having oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur orhalogen. These volatile organic compounds are hazardous to the humanbody and pollute our environment. Conventional methods for eliminatingthe volatile organic compounds from the exhaust gases are absorbing,chemical oxidation, burning, bio-oxidation and condensing methods. Ifquantity of volatile organic compounds in the exhaust gas is large,absorbing and condensing methods are carried out to recycle the volatileorganic compounds. When the quantity of volatile organic compounds islow or the compounds are worthless, other methods destroy the volatileorganic compounds.

An active carbon absorbent is one example of material used in theabsorbing method and is held inside an absorbing device. The absorbingdevice comprises a hollow body with two ends, a gas inlet and a gasoutlet and multiple active carbon filtering sheets. The gas inlet andoutlet are formed respectively at the two ends, and the active carbonfiltering sheets are stacked inside the hollow body between the gasinlet and the gas outlet. When the exhaust gas enters the absorbingdevice, the active carbon filtering sheets absorb the volatile organiccompounds until the exhaust gas meets environmental standards forreleasing into the environment. The filtering sheets have to be detachedfrom the absorbing device and regenerated when the active carbon issaturated.

Besides wasting space and being expensive, the absorbing device is a lowcapacity device and cannot be used in every factory. Additionally,regenerating the active carbon filtering sheets is also expensive, andthe active carbon filtering sheets need to be replaced with new onesoften because regenerating the active carbon filtering sheets quicklybecomes ineffective.

Furthermore, a high power air-extracting system has to be used to drawthe exhaust gas through the filtering sheets. Therefore, electricconsumption of the air-extracting system is inevitably high and thevolatile organic compounds attached to the filtering sheets may causesecondary pollution if the volatile organic compounds are not properlytreated.

Catalytic burning is another example of treating the exhaust gas withvolatile organic compounds, especially for exhaust gas with lowconcentrations of VOCs. A catalytic burning operational device comprisesa reacting chamber containing catalyst and multiple holes defined in thechamber for entrance and exit of the exhaust gas. When the system isoperating, the exhaust gas is transported into the reacting chamberthrough the holes and burned with flammable gases or diesel oil todecompose the volatile organic compounds. However, the cost to operatethe catalytic burning device is high, and the holes are easily cloggedwith ash after burning, which causes the device to malfunction.

The methods and devices to remove volatile organic compounds fromexhaust gas still have some problems. The present invention has arisento mitigate or obviate the disadvantages in the conventional methods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the prevent invention is to provide a furnacedevice to eliminate volatile organic compounds, which has low cost andsmall size, and is suitable for exhaust gases with low-concentrations ofvolatile organic compounds.

Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent after a careful reading of the detailed description withappropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF ESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a furnace device for eliminating volatileorganic compounds in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cutaway view of the furnace device for eliminatingvolatile organic compounds in FIG. 1, to reveal internal elements;

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the arc generator inthe furnace device in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a single reacting chamber ofthe arc generator in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of the reacting chamber in FIG. 4, wherein thereacting chamber is full of arcs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds in exhaustgas comprises a hollow body, a gas inlet, a gas outlet, an arcgenerator, two positioning plates and multiple optional damping devices.The hollow body has a top and a bottom. The gas inlet is defined nearthe bottom of the hollow body, and the gas outlet is defined at the topof the hollow body. The arc generator is mounted between the gas inletand gas outlet and generates arcs to burn the volatile organic compoundswhen the exhaust gas enters the furnace device. The two positioningplates clamp and hold the arc generators in place. The multiple optionaldamping devices are mounted between the arc generator and the twopositioning plates.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of the furnacedevice in accordance with the present invention comprises a body (10), apositioning device (20), and an arc generator (30).

The body (10) is a hollow cylinder with a flat bottom (not numbered), atapered top (not numbered) and a sidewall (not numbered) and has a gasoutlet (11), an optional gas-extractor (12); a gas inlet (13) andmultiple view ports (14). The gas outlet (11) is defined in the taperedtop of the body (10) and has the gas-extractor (12) accommodated inside.The gas inlet (12) is defined in the sidewall near the flat bottom ofthe body (10) to allow the exhaust gas entering the body (10). Themultiple optional view ports (14) are defined in the sidewall of thebody (10) for reparation.

The positioning device (20) is mounted between the gas inlet (13) andgas outlet (11) inside the body (10) and comprises two conductivepositioning plates (21), and multiple isolating obstructors (23). Thetwo positioning plates (21) are respectively located above and below thearc generator (30) inside the body (10). Each positioning plate (21) hasmultiple rod holes (22) and multiple ventilating holes (201) definedthrough the positioning plate (21) to communicate with the arc generator(30). The multiple isolating obstructors (23) are attached between thearc generator (30) and the positioning plate (21).

The arc generator (30) is mounted inside the body (10) between the twopositioning plates (21) by securing means (not shown) and has aparallelepiped base 301), multiple chambers (31) and multiple conductivecentral rods (32). The multiple chambers (31) are cylindrical andlongitudinally defined through the parallelepiped base (301) tocommunicate with the ventilating holes (201) on the two positioningplates (21). Each chamber (31) has an inner periphery (not numbered)that serves as a first electrode. The multiple central rods (32)penetrate respectively the multiple chambers (31) and serve as secondelectrodes. Each central rod (32) has an outer periphery (not numbered),two ends (not numbered) and multiple optional annular ribs (33). The twoends are inserted respectively into the rod holes (12) on the twopositioning plates (21). The annular ribs (33) are formed on the outerperiphery of the central rod (32) and served as discharging edges toemit arcs.

With further reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the exhaust gas is sucked intothe chambers (31) by the gas-extractor (12) when the furnace deviceoperates. Then, the central rods (32) and the corresponding innerperiphery of the chambers (31) are connected to a power source toprovide an effective potential difference to generate discharging arcs(40). Preferably, the plasma gas is formed in the chambers (31) togenerate plasma arcs that has higher energy to burn the volatile organiccompounds in the exhaust gas effectively and completely.

The furnace device as described burns the volatile organic compounds inthe exhaust gas by simply providing electric arcs (40) so that theoperating cost of the furnace is low and the volatile organic compoundscan be decomposed completely in a short time. After the VOCs burn, ashdrops through an opening in the bottom of the chamber (31) and isdeposited on the flat bottom of the body (10) to keep the furnace devicefrom malfunctioning. The isolating obstructors (23) can be replaceconveniently through the view ports (14). Additionally, the volume ofthe furnace device is small to reduce occupied space in the factory.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferredembodiment, it is to be understood that many other possiblemodifications and variations can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

1. A furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds inexhaust gas, the furnace device comprising: a body (10) being a hollowcylinder with a bottom, a top and a sidewall and having: a gas outlet(11) defined in the top of the body (10) and having a gas-extractor (12)mounted inside the gas outlet (11); and a gas inlet (12) defined in thesidewall near the bottom of he body (10); a positioning device (20)mounted between the gas inlet (13) and gas outlet (11) inside the body(10) and comprising two conductive positioning plates (21); and an arcgenerator (30) is mounted inside the body (10) between the twopositioning plates (21) and having: a base (301) attached to thesidewall of the body (10); multiple chambers (31) being cylindrical andlongitudinally defined through the base (301), and each having an innerperiphery serving as an electrode; and multiple central rods (32)penetrating respectively the multiple chambers (31) and each serving asanother electrode, wherein each central rod (32) has an outer peripheryand two ends attached respectively to the two positioning plates (21).2. The furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds asclaimed in claim 1, wherein each central rod (32) has multiple annularribs (33) formed on the outer periphery of the central rod (32).
 3. Thefurnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds as claimed inclaim 1, wherein each positioning plate (21) has: multiple rod holes(22) defined through the positioning plate (21), wherein each rod hole(22) receives one of the two ends on one central rod (32); and multipleventilating holes (201) defined through the positioning plate (21) tocommunicate with the multiple chambers (31) of the arc generator (30).4. The furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compounds asclaimed in claim 2, wherein each positioning plate (21) has: multiplerod holes (22) defined through the positioning plate (21), wherein eachrod hole (22) receives one of the two ends on one central rod (32); andmultiple ventilating holes (201) defined through the positioning plate(21) to communicate with the multiple chambers (31) of the arc generator(30).
 5. The furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compoundsas claimed in claim 1, wherein multiple isolating obstructors (23) areattached between the arc generator (30) and the two positioning plates(21).
 6. The furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compoundsas claimed in claim 4, wherein multiple isolating obstructors (23) areattached between the arc generator (30) and the two positioning plates(21).
 7. The furnace device for eliminating volatile organic compoundsas claimed in claim 6, wherein multiple view ports (14) are defined inthe sidewall of the body (10).